Though diminishing timber resources and increasing energy costs have created a strong demand for more efficient timber milling techniques, little attention has been paid to the improvement of tooth design. This is because saw tooth design is a well-worked art with a sound theoretical and empirical base which has determined the tooth shapes used on large bandsaws for many years. A steady increase in bandsaw performance has been achieved over the past thirty years by the use of improved alloy steel for blades, particularly through the introduction of steels and equipment which allows saw teeth to be sharpened and locally hardened at the mill. The tough alloys used reduce tip breakage and, when hardened, are resistant to abrasive wear, which is particularly important when sawing highly siliceous timber. Basic saw tooth shape, however, has remained essentially unchanged during this period.